Gala and Salvador Dali Teatro and Museu

Figueres is home to the main Dali museum. It had been the town's theatre, but was damaged in the civil war. Dali convinced the town (his home town) that if they gave him the theatre, let him have his way with it (!), he'd put them on the map. The rest is history. We spent several hours...the place is a complete and total hoot, especially if you have been touring Europe recently and have learned a little art history. For me, it was just the right combination of art, intellect, and bad boy.

So you're walking along this street in

downtown Figueres, apartment and office

buildings on all sides, you turn a corner,

and then this--the Dali Teatro--pops out at

you

Main tower and dome, and eggs, and statues...

Closer up

Yes, they are loaves of bread...a running gag, it turned out

In the courtyard, before you even go in to

the museum, the craziness begins...

Statue in the courtyard

Another

Adios, Barcelona

Our campsite in Barcelona, the Forum Park 'n Ride; not

cheap, not quiet, but close-in and safe

Misericord on the Barcelona Metro, seriously

We both had read Zafon's Shadow of the

Wind recently (I loved it); if I were spending

more time here, I'd read more of his work

and then use this handy guide to the town

We left Barcelona in the afternoon and got as far as Figueres,

staying at a supermercado that permits RVs; happy (if dead)

fish at the supermercado

Alcoholic cool aid; a liter for a euro; an important source of

vitamin C

Sagrada Familia

Friday morning we took the tram/Metro back
into the old city for a long look at the
Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi church that has
been under construction since 1882; no one
knows when it will be finished, but already
it is one of the great religious buildings, and,
when finished, it certainly will eclipse most
of the rest (Vicki calls it the Sangria Family);
the towers, 12 of them altogether, are about
100m tall

A glimpse of what the stained glass will

look like

Cranes everywhere

Jesus of the bridge...ascending (interestingly,

Gaudi's angels have no wings; he maintained

that the wings conventionally ascribed to

them could not have supported flight (no

dorsal guiding feathers?))

Love the fruit and vegetable look on the

spires

Ditto

As I said, they have no problem with rebar here

And still a long way to go...

Picasso Museum

The Barcelona Cathedral, which we skipped;

it's hardly the main church in town

Alley near the Picasso Museum

The Picasso Museum has a no-pix policy; Vicki snapped

this in protest; I didn't really think anything was worth

photographing

Old city walls and portal, part Roman

Much of Picasso's formative years were in or near Barcelona, and the Picasso Museum has a great deal of his earliest work. Even his adolecent paintings are striking for their emotion and skill. He was a genuine prodigy and paid his dues in mastering conventional techniques. The museum has holdings up through the Blue period, plus his 1957 Las Meninas (parody? tribute?) but not a lot more. Not our most impressive museum, but then Picasso is not exactly our favorite artist.

Palace of Catalan Music

Vicki had seen photos on postcards of the Palau de Musica

de la Catalan and we resolved to see it--only via tour and

no pix--the next day; of all Barcelona's sights, it was the

most impressive, not a Gaudi piece, although the same

vintage and very Modernista; interior (off the web);

surprisingly, the place seats more than 2,000; it feels far

more intimate

Incredible inverted ceiling dome

Even the coffee shoppe wasn't bad looking

Interior

Exterior view, facade; the building is so

hemmed-in, you can't see much of it from the

outside

More exterior

Plus, they treat Wagner very well

Sagrada Familia By Night

The night was young, it wasn't that far away

(we thought), so we bussed and Metro'd and

walked over to the Sagrada Familia, the

Gaudi church, still under construction (begun

in 1882), all lit up; it too is incredible; they

are not building this church the old-fashioned

way; Gaudi was a 4th generartion metal

worker and saw nothing wrong with using

rebar and concrete

Anyhow, work continues through the night

Note tree and doves above the doors

All-day and -night tourism requires massive

infusions of hot choclate and churros

Park Guell

Gaudi also designed a residential neighborhood and park. The neighborhood thing flopped--too few buyers/investors--and so was scrapped, but the city later acquired the property as a park, the Park Guell (his patron), another Gaudi monument.

Barcelona, from the summit of Park Guell

Approaching the park terrace

Gaudi park benches

Vicki on one of the benches

Detail

More of the park

Grill work at the entrance

In the market area; the columns only look

perpendicular

Guardian reptile

From the entrance to the terrace

La Pedrera

La Pedrera is an apartment building by Gaudi, 4 blocks or so from the Block of Discord (all this is in the Example, the Extension, the new (c. 1880) addition that adjoins the old city from the Plaza de Catalan). It is part Gaudi museum and showplace but is also still occupied by a few (very wealthy) residents and a few offices.  It was just as incredible inside as outside.

La Pedrera, frontal view

Looking up from the entry

In the foyer

There is a furnished apartment on the 5th floor, part of the

museum, all done up in Modernista, that is, art nouveau,

incredibly beautiful stuff

Roof ornamentation

Closer up

More roof ornmentation; as we'll see, much

of his work involves broken tile--they can

be set in curves that unbroken tiles cannot

Gaudi chimneys

From the roof, a mile or so away, the

Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's church, which

we'll see a lot more of...

And the Torre Agbar, which is 20th century,

not Gaudi, but fits Barcelona just as well

Interior structural support for the roof

Pedrera by night